Looking for monopod and head suggestion

photodad1

I'm looking for a monopod and head to support my Canon 1DIII and Canon 300mm f2.8L IS lens version 1. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Chris

Art Scott

P-Pod from Giotos ... ... I have used mine with D3 + Bigma it has a tiltable head on it with a QR, that I attach a arca swiss mount to, to allow the use of my arca typle QR system...

perroneford

Very, VERY few pros I know use a head on a monopod unless they are 6'3 or taller. There are a lot of good monopods out there in different price ranges. If you want to drop a lot of coin, look into the Gitzo's or Really Right Stuff. Mid-priced stuff like the Manfrottos can be good. i have a Manfrotto 681b that is priced very reasonably and does a terrific job. I've had some big glass on it, and it's performed well. I also have an induro CM34 Carbon Fiber monopod that is my main monopod now. I bought carbon fiber because it's lighter, stronger, it's damped better, and it doesn't burn my hands in the heat or freeze my hands in the cold. I could have bought any monopod on the market when I bought these two as price was not a significant factor to me. Performance and value were. Take that for what it's worth.

I see you asked this on S.S. and got much the same answers...

Mitchell

I never use a head on my monopod and typically mount a D3 or D700 on a 300mm, f2.8. There really is no need for the swivel function when shooting sports.

Like Art, I have a P-pod from Giotos. It's very sturdy but a bit heavy. It has the ability to swivel the head, but I have never used that function. I also have a Gitzo CF monopod which is quite light but not quite as tall or sturdy as my Giotos.

ziggy53

I'm always the odd one here for sports.

I used a tripod with a video fluid head for shooting sports. When I was packed in with the players on the sidelines of (American) football, I'd keep the legs folded in, rather using it like a monopod. When I was pretty much by myself I expanded the legs to use the full stability of the tripod.

The fluid head allowed me to track the action easily, even though I kept the drag very loose.

Use the tripod ring on most long lenses to switch from landscape to portrait orientation, and for leveling.

perroneford

I couldn't even imagine trying to track soccer or football on a tripod. Not for stills. Going from a QB to a WR 50 yards downfield, getting focus and getting the ball on the fingertips... It's a challenge even hand-held!

paddler4

I use a tilt head (not a ball head) on my monopod and find it very helpful. For macro work, I have it set so that it allows me to tilt up and down. For other purposes, I have it set so that I can switch to portrait mode in a pinch.

Tilt heads are inexpensive, with one big caveat: if you want arca-swiss compatibility, be prepared to pay a lot. I decided that I did want that, and I ended up with the Kirk MPA-2 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=kirk+mpa-2&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ta). it costs $200, and it is quite heavy, but it is beautifully machined and works very smoothly.

When shopping for monopods, the impression I got is that in contrast to tripods, it didn't make that much difference which I bought. There are quite a number of moderately priced carbon fiber monopods. I ended up with an Oben (the B&H store brand), which has worked well.